


I'm A Rift In The Ripple of Time

by fallingmistinthedark



Series: Slipping [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: BAMF Lance, Blue Misses Lance A Lot, F/M, Holt family reunion, Lance stayed with the Blade for a while, Langst, Like really slow, Lotor is an asshole, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, POV Switches, Post-Canon, Shiro is BACK, Slow Burn, Space Mercenary!Lance, Timeskips, Written before season 3, blade of marmora, blue paladin matt, lance being a badass, space mafia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-12-07 12:52:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11623932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallingmistinthedark/pseuds/fallingmistinthedark
Summary: Staying with Voltron wasn't an option after so many surprise attacks on the castleship all because Lotor wanted Lance... so Lance left. It was that simple. They didn't need him, since he knew he was the weakest link. But he would be stronger, and help them do what they couldn't.-:-Five months after Lance disappears, and one month after Blue accepts Matt as her paladin, a name appears on Galra radio chatter. A name the Galra seem to be even more afraid of than the Champion. Maybe even Voltron. Whoever they are, they've already taken down the most highly secure of Galra work camps, single-handedly. And they did all of this without ever being seen. The Blue Wraith.





	I'm A Rift In The Ripple of Time

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for Lance's birthday but let's be real it's probably going to be late. Happy Birthday Lance!
> 
> Title - Hidden Citizens : Slipping
> 
> > signifies a time skip and >< signifies a point of view change. The only two points of view in this will be Keith and Lance, so it shouldn't be too hard, I'd think.
> 
> This accidentally posted earlier than it was supposed to, so sorry for those who saw it before it was ready! I'm working on an iPad, and it decided to bug out, and I accidentally clicked Post without Preview instead of Save Without Posting... but I hope you all enjoy this, since it's the beginning of a series of one-shots!

Lance stares down at the message on his dash, though the message has long since paused. He'll never know how Blue keeps finding his ship's signal, but he's been grateful for all the random intermittent updates she decides to send his way over the months on his team. _Ex-team_ he corrects himself, but he can't help himself from thinking that they're still his team, even if he's no longer a part of it. However, with this update, it's not from Blue's eyes that he sees things. A taller clone of Pidge sits where he used to, looking skeptical. 

_"I don't know if you'll ever watch this, but I just wanted to let you know Blue accepted me as her paladin,"_ the message starts, the boy shifting the customary paladin helmet to better fit his head, even though the tufts of light brown hair are still sticking just slightly out. _"This is Matt, by the way. Blue tells me you already knew I'd been found when they met with Alliance leaders but, y'know, just saying in case,"_ Lance's face falls as he remembers what had come next. 

_"The princess had made the executive decision to stop trying to find you. I know you either don't care or you're taking it hard. But on the slim chance you are taking it hard, just know that I am, at least, grateful that you left. I wouldn't be here if you hadn't, and I doubt Voltron would be either,"_ Matt continues shattering Lance's world a second time in one short video. 

"No," he whispers, tears threatening to escape from where he's kept them at bay for so long, too long. 

"I'm surprised they looked this long," Nyma says from her spot some where behind him. He'd forgotten she was there, to be honest. Her kind were apparently built for stealth and the quietest of movements, being the apex predators of her planet. 

"Shut it, I won't hesitate to drop you out the airlock," Lance threatens, tears gone for good. "Where's Rolo? I would've thought he'd be laughing his ass of at me right now," Lance asked, irritated at the two choices in crew members he'd made for his stolen space mafia ship. He honestly didn't know what they were actually called, but they had run awfully similarly to the mafia on Earth, so that's what he'd chosen to call them, plus this ship was registered in Galra space, so who was he to complain if his crew members were a little insufferable sometimes?

"Right here, boss. And why would I be laughing?" Rolo asked as he came around the corner and into the navigation room from the ship's main corridor. Along it was the navigation room, where they currently were, access to the ship's cargo hold, crew's quarters, storage, and a kitchen space. 

"Because he," Nyma pointed one of her fingers at him, "almost started crying when he learned Voltron gave up looking for him," Nyma says before he can say anything. 

"That true, boss?" Rolo asks, amused, looking to Lance for a confirmation to the supposed truth behind the words.

"I wouldn't say it like that, but, in short that's kinda what happened," Lance said, a grimace in his face as transferred the message to his personal tablet. Rolo flashed him a grin before sitting in his own seat, diagonally behind Lance and across from Nyma. 

"So what's the job today, boss?" Rolo asks, seeming to set the entire incident behind them as he brought up the ship's navigation system to set the required coordinates.

"We're taking down a labor camp," Lance said, taking hold of the controls in front of him, "LB-14457, if I remember correctly."

"You always do, boss," Nyma states, relaxed at her own station. Lance shakes his head, guiding the craft out from a dwarf planet's atmosphere where they'd been lying low for the past few days as they received orders from their employers this time around. Well he was, until he let go of the controls, faced with the familiar blue sheen of a much larger ship, much more familiar ship than his own. The sight of it pulls at his heart. Blue must've guided it here so she could deliver that message just now to him. 

"It's a particularly nasty one that both the Rebellion and the Blade want gone," Lance tells them, refusing to say anything about the no doubt familiar sight of the ship to them. 

"So double the pay, boss?" Rolo asks, eyeing the ship as Lance takes the controls back into his hands and activates the ship's hyperdrive. Rolo and Nyma tell him that's not what it's called, but it's what he calls it anyhow. Lance nods as they speed off into the vastness of space. He can't afford to speak when memories of laughter, the shine of glasses in the dark, bickering, quiet smiles, and words of praise threaten to overwhelm him.

He wishes so badly he could go back, in the silence that follows, but he knows, deep down, that those days are long past him now. 

>

Leaving Voltron didn't mean Lance was quitting the fight on the Galra. Hell no. He was just doing it differently, with a different team supporting him. And a better, more developed skill set. 

Donning the suit of armor the Blade had gifted to him for this mission, he went over the plan they had carefully crafted the past few days. He turned it over in his mind this and that way, until he was certain it couldn't fail. Once he'd finished with that, he fixed his custom made sniper rifle to the holder on his back. When he was satisfied that it wasn't going to get knocked off it's place, he sheathed his two custom made Marmoran-style blades. He'd learned double wielding from one of the Blades a while ago, since he'd wanted to developed his skill set for going into the field alone. The Blade had been more than happy to teach him, since it meant he'd become more useful to their cause instead of just acting as support on Marmoran missions, which is what he had been doing. The last weapons to be added are the dual pistols attached to his thighs, below his swords. 

The final thing to go on was his mask, which brightened in the darkness of his room on his ship with a soft whir. 

>

"Alright, Lance. The surveillance drones are off and they have no idea we're in. You have one hour. I think. That's sixty minutes in Earth time, correct?" Nyma asks as Lance finishes attaching the wire that he's hooked to the top edge of the hole that goes into the holding area for their prisoners of war.

"Yes Nyma, now could you quiet down for a while. I'll contact you when I get there," Lance tells her, and with the soft click that signals her cutting off their communication, he jumps lithely into the subterranean prison. 

The wire stops him just where he needs to be, and he quietly unhooks his sniper. Quiet as a breeze in an open field, he takes aim, and shoots the patrolling androids down, the shots as quiet as the breaths he takes. He repeats the process as he keeps going down a floor, until he reaches the main floor, and the floor he needs. Once the androids are gone there, he swings himself onto the platform next to the hole. He cuts the wire from his ankle hold with one hand and hooks his sniper back to his back with the other once he's sure he hasn't been spotted. 

He unhooks both pistols from their spots at his thighs, spinning them around his fingers until they fit comfortably in the palm of his hand. Without a sound, he rushes down the long, purple lit hallway. The first patrol he encounters doesn't even have time to react before their wires amd plating are strewn all over the floor, the only noise he can hear. He's nearing the end of the hall now, and he remembers he has to turn right here. At least, until a soft click startles him and he presses himself to the wall right before he was supposed to turn the corner. 

"What is it, Nyma? You know you're not supposed to contact me until I contact you," Lance whispers tensely, scanning the spaces around him for signs that something might hear him. There are none. 

"Yeah but we have a problem out here," Nyma says, her voice soft with urgency. Lance cocks his head to listen for the footsteps of another patrol of Galra androids, but there are none. 

"What is it?" Lance asks, still scanning. He can't risk getting found here. He will **not** ever go to Lotor. He'd rather die than give that piece of shit anything. 

"The Castle of Lions is here, and they're taking our ship aboard. We don't have a choice here," Nyma says, as the feed crackles, signaling that Pidge and Hunk are trying to jam their signal. 

"Alright. Stay safe. And make sure you don't say anything about me," Lance says, grateful that he'd already turned on his voice distorter. The one that came with the mask. A click, and they're gone. Lance just hopes they're both smart enough to not mention him. They'd already planned a story for when they get caught. Beezer, the robot they apparently still have will "take his place" as the third crew member. Anything that _they_ would have been able to discern as his was safely back the Blade's HQ, including his jacket and any memorabilia he might have collected as a paladin of Voltron.

Lance took out the patrol around the corner before they even knew anything was up. After that, incidents on the mission were few and far between. Apparently, this place relied mostly on the thousands of surveillance drones they employed, and without them, it was like they were sitting ducks. Lance slid into the control room of the place with the gentlest of gusts of wind, behind a Galra android patrol leader. The Galra in the room were all dead within seconds. 

Lance pressed the two buttons he knew would help him. De-activate all patrol androids and de-activate all surveillance drones. The Blade had also taught him basic and useful bits of the Galra language for moments like these. When each patrol leader ca,e to ask what the hell had happened, they were all dead before they even walked through the door. 

Once Lance was sure there weren't going to be any more Galra coming, he pressed the button for universal translation in the prison to activate, and held down the announcement comms around the prison to turn on, and made his announcement.

"Would Samuel Holt please come to the control room when the doors open? I would very much like to speak with one of my own," and then he released the prisoners. And then he waited. 

>

Just ten short minutes later, as was revealed when he glanced at the clock in the bottom right corner of his helmet, the man showed up, dressed in the same type of outfit as Slav and Shiro had been, looking bedraggled and starved for real food. 

"Hello there. Were you expecting a trap? Because this isn't one. The Galra aren't smart enough for such a trap," Lance said from his spot in the Warden's chair. His weapons had been returned to their places and he had his hands up in a peace offering he was sure the man in front of him remembered from Earth. The man looked over him, clearly still hesitant. 

"Are you real?" He finally asked, eyeing Lance with clear distrust, but so, so much hope. He was just like Pidge, Lance decided. "Is this real? You said one of your own. What did you mean by that?" Lance chuckled happy to see that once the man had started to ask questions, he hadn't stopped. At least he hadn't lost such a precious quality after so many years in Galra captivity. 

"Yes, yes, yes, I did say one of my own, and this is what I mean," Lance answered in corrrect order, before taking his mask off to show the man what he had meant. The man gasped, falling to his knees at Lance's face. "Yeah, yeah, I know my face is beautiful and all, but we have things to talk about before I have to leave, but don't worry. Some others are going to be here soon for you." 

"But how are you this deep in space? Humans haven't mastered space travel yet... how did you not get captured by the Galra... how?" The man asks, so overwhelmed. Lance only smiles sadly, not exactly sure how to explain it to the man except for, "Have you ever heard of Voltron, Mr.Holt?" The man nods yes, a confused look in his eyes. 

"What does Voltron have to do with anything?" The man asks, and Lance shakes his head. 

"Nothing. Everything. Take your pick," Lance says, hands spread in a shrug, "but it is what brought four humans into deep space for the first time, and what brought one back there. And that is how Voltron began, and why it is piloted by five humans. And that is also how I am here. I used to be part of Voltron, but certain... circumstances forced me off. But Voltron will be here soon, with three familiar faces that will be very relieved to find you here, Mr.Holt." Lance turns to look at the control board in front of him. And the he starts typing out a clear, concise message. 

"Do you remember Marvel and DC, Mr.Holt?" Lance asks as types away at his message. He sees the man nod out of the corner of his eye as he finishes typing out his message, only to send it straight to the one place he wants it. 

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" 

"My name," Lance states, relaxing back into the chair. It really was a comfy chair. As shame he couldn't take it back with him, "do you think Star Lord or the Blue Wraith is better?" 

"You don't even know what your name will be? Is this your first mission?" Mr.Holt exclaims, sounding slightly worried. "How old even are you?" 

"Younger than I'd like to be. And no. Just my first solo mission. Now answer the question," Lance tells him, putting his mask back on.

"In that case, Star Lord is too conceited, and I think the much more fear-instilling option in the Galra language is Blue Wraith," Mr.Holt says, having moved from his spot in the entrance to take in the many, many galran bodies littering the floor behind Lance's chair. 

"Good choice, since that's name I sent to their leader," Lance says, cracking a smile just as a resounding boom echoes through the prison. "That'd be Voltron, and my call to leave. Have a nice life, Mr.Holt, and please tell Voltron I will always be there to help them, with whatever they may need," and with that, he rises out of his chair and starts to the door, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder. 

"Thank you, Blue Wraith. I will be sure to do that," he says. Lance smiles back at him through the mask, even though he knows the man can't see it. 

The race to get out before any members of Voltron find him has him paranoid, but in the end he finds himself at the designated rendezvous point, without a flying lion in sight. Thought he did see a flash of red as he was breaking the surface to his left, but he had refused to look, even with the way Blue had sensed was near, sending her acceptance to him in a rumble in his mind. _While I do not understand why,_ it seemed to say, _I will accept it_. And for that, Lance was grateful. 

>

 _"Lance, code name Rayul, how did your mission go? The Galra are chattering an awful lot about a 'Blue Wraith',"_ Zirnak asked, once Lance was called to report on his mission. 

"That'd be me, sir, and you won't have to worry about LB-14457 ever again. Voltron exploded it after they got all the prisoners out. After I set them free and cleared it for entry, of course," Lance said, flashing his commanding officer a smile. Zirnak sighed, waving him off. 

"That will do, Officer Rayul. Make sure you get to the rendezvous point to receive your payment from us and the Alliance," Lance nodded, and the signal was lost. 

"You know where to go, guys. I'm going to bed," Lance called as he slipped into a deep sleep, filled with red, black, yellow, green, and blue. 

>

Not even an hour later, Rolo and Nyma showed up with his ship, and even though he could sense that Blue was flying at him with what felt like a sense of urgency, they were all gone into the vastness of space before Blue ever even showed as a dot on the horizon. Her sadness followed him through the galaxies though, as it always did whenever they came close enough. 

><

Keith hated the sense of quiet the castle held ever since Lance had disappeared, five months ago, without a trace. All of his stuff was gone and the only thing to even say that he had been there was Blue thunderous roar, the thing that had alerted them all to his disappearance. He'd even left his armor and bayard. The missing pod could've been anyone. But they all knew better. Lance was gone. 

And more importantly, they all knew why. 

Pidge threw herself into the search efforts for Lance and her family with renewed energy, until she crashed three days later. Hunk later informed him, with sunken, sleep-deprived eyes, that she had crashed. 

Shiro didn't know what was going on, why Lance had left. He hadn't been there for most of Lotor's surprise attacks. He had only returned a week earlier before Lance had left. There hadn't been an attack in that time. And then they all stopped. For good. Because Lance, the only reason the attacks were happening was gone. 

He'd hated how Lotor had first said he wanted only the Blue Paladin, and he would surrender, as long as he got Lance. His stomach had contorted strangely at that. Or maybe it was more the strange look Lance had gotten on his face after. 

Keith had never hated Lance, despite Lance proclaiming they were rivals. That shouldn't have bothered Keith much, but something about Lance just made Keith's mild irritation at the statement turn into full blown irritation, and maybe that's why Keith found himself bickering with Lance so much. Everything with Lance was just... heightened. In truth, Keith had never once thought of Lance in a negative light. The guy was funny, easy to talk to (if you weren't Keith, apparently), and laid back. Keith genuinely liked Lance as a person. It was just... whenever Lance tried to start something, Keith couldn't stop himself from joining in. 

And so, with no one to get into petty arguments with, Keith had flung himself fully into training, unable to stand the silence that now permeated through the castle. 

>

That was a month ago. And they still couldn't find Lance. It was like he had just disappeared into thin air, or, what it now felt like, is that he had never even existed at all, just a shared dream they had all convinced themselves was real. Now, they were at the Blade of Marmora's Headquarters as they sifted through all the distresss signals they'd been getting. Or, more accurately, the two alteans plus Shiro sifted through them, while Pidge, Hunk, and Keith had been told to train a little with the Galra there in hand-to-hand, something that they all were, unfortunately, lacking. 

"The likelihood of you encountering the Blue Paladin is 60% in this universe if you hang around the members quarters in a few days," Slav's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. The small, but long creature was looking at him thoughtfully. Keith bristled once he registered Slav's words, and didn't even stop to consider what the creature had said as he got up and left the alcove area he'd holed himself up in. 

"Thanks, but no thanks, Slav," he'd told him instead, until a day later when he actually thought about why he had said it. _Could Lance be here? Was that what Slav had meant?_ He'd allowed himself to think, before he shook his head and rejected the very idea. Why would Lance be here of all places? 

>

Two months without Lance, and it was beginning to feel hopeless. Lance didn't want them to find him, so they wouldn't find him. They'd finally been sent on a mission to attack a Galra held mini-planet, and their main target was a corporate building. The Blade was helping the man with the siege, as it had sent three of its own units in with them.

Keith was halfway through the first building, not knowing that an android was coming up behind him, since an explosion in the street below had deafened his ears. Suddenly, a bullet soared right past Keith's shoulders, hitting the droid squarely in the neck, where its's operating systems were. It was too fast for Keith's to even perceive for a moment, even as he turned around just in time avoid the falling droid. The Galra in front of him that served as his buddy while they all combed through the building shrugged, motioning for them to continue. Keith turned back around, searching for the glint of a sniper rifle in the light of the planets two suns. 

He finally found it, nestled among in the small crack between two other buildings. They had to be at least a mile away, and yet they had shot the droid coming up on him with perfect accuracy. "Who was that?" Keith asked the Mamoran in front of him. The Galra, named Zirnak, paused an considered it. 

"Given the accuracy of that shot, I'd say it was Rayul. He's sort of new, but he's very good with a sniper rifle. We use him as support on our more precise ground operations," Zirnak answered, slashing through two more androids blocking the staircase they needed to go up. 

"Then could you give Rayul my thanks? He saved my life and I would like to be able to show how thankful I am to him," Keith said, ducking the swing of and taking out the android in front of him. 

"Of course," he said, before speaking quietly into his comm. _He must be connected through the comms to sniper_ , Keith thought. The only things he caught of what Zirnak said was, "Red Paladin wants to thank", "yes", "alright", "good work", and "report in soon". 

>

Three months in, and Pidge finally had one brother back. Matt seemed to be okay, save for the nightmares he would have occasionally, and the expertise he now had with different types of weaponry that the Alliance had apparently trained him with. Keith found Matt okay, but he still wanted Lance back more than anything. 

At least he had gotten a sparring buddy out of it. As he had discovered, Matt also seemed to be found most often on the training deck. Over time, they seemed to just gravitate to sparring with each other in relative silence, unless one or the other wanted advice on a certain move, a question on the other's personality, and so on. But they had a system, and it seemed to work. 

>

Until Blue chose Matt as her Paladin four months in. Until Matt was accepted wholeheartedly to the team, when Keith still couldn't let go of Lance. Until Allura made the decision to stop searching for Lance, looking so solid on her decision that he hadn't dared protest. It was like her eyes were challenging him to. But he didn't, even if he couldn't understand how they all just accepted it so easily. Matt's bayard was a spear. For some reason, that also got to Keith. Maybe it was because he felt so betrayed by the whole thing. 

What he didn't know, was how Pidge cried herself to sleep that night as she looked for any sign of Lance, even if Allura had told her to stop, how Hunk became less talkative, and less sociable, instead holing himself up in the kitchen, only talking when being spoken to. How Allura had to hold Shiro's hand under the table as she announced her decision, how Shiro's hand shook with grief as she'd said it, how they both went to each other for comfort that night, unsure that their situation was real, and how they cried to each other, how Coran told less stories, was less enthusiastic when he was teaching someone. 

Maybe he should have noticed those things. And maybe he should've noticed how they all slowly began to heal after an operation five months in. 

>

It had started when they had seen the small cargo ship miles from where any cargo ship was supposed to be. It would have been inconspicuous anywhere else, but it looked, as it had come out of the atmosphere of a dwarf planet, like it had been hiding from something. Maybe even everything. They had brushed it off as it had sped away, deep into space. 

That was, at least, until they came upon it outside the very labor camp they'd come to liberate. And from the dead drones everywhere, it looked as though it had something to do with. 

And so Allura had gathered the Paladins to the bridge before addressing the pilot of the vessel. 

"This is Allura of Altea, unidentified cargo ship. We will be taking you aboard now, as you are a suspicious vessel in our eyes. As long as we find everything satisfactory when we search you, we shall release you." 

None of them expected Rolo and Nyma to exit the cargo ship.

"We were told by the Alliance to help you with this mission by helping our inside man here, disabling the drones, and to pick him up once he was done," Nyma had explained, showing them the video message that addressed them by their names that ordered them to do. 

"So you have turned your back on the Galra?" Shiro questioned, eyeing them down. They didn't waver under his gaze, both nodding as Nyma reached her hand out for their mission orders. 

"Well... I guess you're free to go, since everything is in order," Allura said after a moment of thought. Keith noticed Allura's hand searching for Shiro's, who held onto it as soon as we was able, gazing over at Allura with a fond smile. _When did that happen?_ Keith thought, watching as Allura's hand squeezed Shiro's. At the sight of it, Keith felt a strange emotion take hold of him. One he often had when thinking about Lance. He wanted that. With Lance. And he didn't know why. Soon, they would have to get in their lions and raid LB-14457. He watched as Nyma and Rolo nodded at them once again after they had their orders back and how they got back in their vessel, and how they soared off into space.

>

 _Something was off_ , Keith thought as soon as he entered the air space above the camp. The drones were all off, but then again, that could be what Nyma and Rolo were supposed to help them with. Except, once he landed Red and entered the camp, nothing shot at him. No patrol androids, no Galra patrol leaders, not anything except the sounds of all the prisoners running free. _Nobody's made it to the control room yet, right? How did all of this happen?_ Keith thinks, opening his comms for a moment to ask, just in case somebody had actually made it. "Hey guys, you seeing what I'm seeing or did a Druid hit me with some nasty shit?" Keith announced, scanning the area around him for any suspicious activity. 

"If what you're seeing is all the prisoners running free and no signs of their captors anywhere, than you didn't get hit by a Druid. Or we both got hit," Matt replied, sounding distinctly disgruntled. Pidge's annoyed sighs filled the comms next before she also confirmed it. Shiro confirmed it from his position a second later. 

"Yeah, all of this and none of us have even reached the control room yet. I wonder what happened here," Hunk confirmed, echoing the same point Keith had made to himself earlier. _So just what had happened here?_ Keith thought, trying to come up with anything that sounded plausible, yet the one thing his brain could come up with was, _What if Lance did this? What if he was here, helping you now?_ Keith shook those thoughts off, because what kind of idiot would Lance have to be to stay in the war effort when he'd essentially been given a free pass out of it. He hoped more than anything that wherever Lance was, he was keeping himself out of this and laying low. 

And so they all carefully picked their way through the camp, all of them getting to the closed control room in a matter of minutes. "On three?" Shiro asked, "Three," a second later, "Two", "One!" 

They opened the doors on either side of control room, and expecting to find all of the galra holed up there. Instead the only thing alive in the room looked.... human. A human that looked... incredibly familiar. For some reason. 

"Dad!" Pidge exclaimed at the same time that Matt whispered, "Dad?" 

_Now that they say it, he does look at them both with the fatherly alarm that I thought could only be made by Coran or Shiro could whenever one of them got injured._

"Firstly, Matt I'm so glad you're safe," The man starts, ( _Mr.Holt,_ Keith corrects himself) "Secondly, Katie how did you get here? You're supposed to be safe. At home. On Earth. With your mother." Yeah. He doesn't look happy with them at all. Though he does look immensely relieved, since as soon as they'd come in it was like a weight lifted off his shoulders. 

"We have to get you out of here first, Dad. Then we'll exp- What the hell?!" Pidge gasps, pointing somewhere behind the control desk. Peeking out from behind it is a large galra hand. A very dead galra hand. Keith comes closer before anyone else, but stumbles back when he gets a view. 

"There are so many of them...," Keith mumbles, shocked at the sheer number of dead galra prison officers. Pidge takes a step forward to confirm it for herself, but her father's hand on her shoulder stops her. 

"Don't, Katie. I saw it too. It's not pretty," Mr.Holt says, staunchly facing away from the immense pile of bodies. 

"But, but who could have done something like this?" Hunk says, having only seen part of it. Shiro shakes his head, looking like he was going to be sick. 

"He told me his name was the Blue Wraith. He was outfitted with two swords, two pistols, and a sniper rifle. His face was covered in a mask with three blue illuminated lines. He took out all of these guards before I even got here. He let us free. I don't know how he did it. But he was kind to me, and he told me to tell you all something, since I'm assuming you are Voltron," Mr.Holt told them, and once Shiro nodded and confirmed himself as the leader of Voltron, Mr.Holt continued, "He said that he will always help you, with anything you might need, and then he left, just minutes before you all got here."

"Did he show you his face?" Keith asked, jumping on the hope that it just might have been Lance. That he could hunt Lance down and he could have his entire new family back. Mr.Holt seemed to think for a second, before he shook his head. 

"No I don't think he did in the short few minutes I talked to him. He knew you'd be here though. And he somehow knew I was important to Voltron, and seeing as two of my children and wait... is that you Shiro?" Mr.Holt said, stepping forward to hug Shiro when he nodded. "I'm so sorry, Shiro. Maybe if I hadn't entered my thesis... none of this would've happened."

"It's okay, Mr.Holt, but for now, I think we should be getting out of here," Shiro said, finishing just as Matt stumbled back for seemingly no reason. "Matt, what's wrong?" 

"Guys, Blue is saying Lance is really close. She's literally showing me this form she's seeing running past Red. What do I do?" Matt says, kneeling and clutching at his forehead, eyes shut in concentration. Keith gasps, running out before anyone can say anything. Keith just manages to glance a dark spot in the distance, getting farther and farther away. Away from him. Away from Voltron. 

><

"Keith, buddy," Lance says the next morning, having holed himself in his room while they travel to the rendezvous point to finish watching Blue's update video. Blue had just shown him a shot of Keith looking up to and talking to her, about himself. About Lance. Lance had never hated Keith. In fact, right before he'd left he'd accepted it, something he'd been trying so hard to deny. After all, there was no room for a crush in the middle of war. Lance reached out to touch the screen, fingers just brushing the top of Keith's hair. 

"Uh, boss?" Rolo's voice snaps him out of his reverie, and he quickly clicks off the tab holding the video, marked Blue I-098. He opens the door, pretending as though he was checking the list of available jobs. 

"What's up, Rolo? Anything happen while I was out?" Lance asks, eyes still skimming each job, before absently clicking on one that seems easy enough for his crew's skillset. 

"Nothing in particular, just wanted to let you know we got to rendezvous point sooner than we'd anticipated, so you should probably start getting dressed, cause they'll be here really soon, apparently," Rolo tells him, eyeing the thin suit that Lance always wears under his armor. Lance nods, shutting his tablet off. "At least that's what Nyma said."

"Got you, Rolo. And please, make sure none of them manage to nab any of our cargo, alright?" Lance asks, teasing Rolo about the last time they met with Alliance representatives. One of them had managed to steal their last memory chip for Beezer, and they'd had to use most of the money from their next mission to get Beezer a new one. 

"Aw c'mon Lance! That's was a one time thing! Everything's already put up and out of the way alright?" Rolo said, groaning as he started back down the hallway.

The Alliance's representatives showed up half an hour later, when Lance was dressed in his casual Blade clothes and waiting just outside his ship for their arrival.

"You are Rayul, correct?" The Alliance representative asks, all of their four eyes narrowed as they take him in. He nods, sticking his hand out. It looks at it and back up at his face again, mild annoyance crossing it's features. 

"That would be me. I suppose your culture doesn't do handshakes?" Lance asks in return, face schooled into a look of curiosity. He really doesn't want to accidentally offend whatever this representative. The Alliance is one of his only sources of income in a world under Galra control. 

"Not exactly, I just don't get why a mercenary based out of the Blade would care about such trivial things as politeness," it tells him in lieu of an answer. 

"So what do you have for me?" Lance asks, cutting right to chase as the representative seems to want to. 

"Here," it says, chin jerking forward, a signal to bring out the case he'd seen the second representative holding. Lance opens it once the representative nods their approval. Inside is the sniper he's wanted since he found out about it three months ago. It can be used in space, which is why he'd wanted it in the first place. Now he could do raids on ships out of atmosphere. 

"Thank you, now you said something about having another mission in your message to meet here? What have you got for me this time?" Lance asks, handing the case to Rolo, who immediately goes to take it inside the ship. 

"Voltron has requested we send some help their way. We have chosen you, since whatever you are seems to be similar to whatever they are. You will help them with their missions as of now until we decide we need you. Good luck, Officer Rayul." Lance feels his stomach contort at the words. There is no way. No possible ever-loving way. Jesus Christ No. 

"Is this negotiable?" Lance asks hopefully. The alien looks at him blandly, eyes looking at him with the clear message of _What do you think?_

"It is non-negotiable. Godspeed, Officer Rayul and crew," and with that, the representatives turn around, get back in their ship, and sail off into space. 

Leaving Lance to curse every lucky star he supposedly has.


End file.
